(This is good, big news. Max and Jon have both been great on protecting the Constitution. Good for them. - promoted by Matt Singer)
Today both Senators Baucus and Tester said they would vote against the nomination of Judge Mukasey for US Attorney General. Colorado's Salazar will also vote against.
These defections could be critical should Senate Democrat's attempt a filibuster. I'm going to call Baucus and Teseter's offices and ask if they would be willing to join a filibuster should one materialize.
So far only Schumer and Feinstein have come out as voting in favor of the nomination, and of course Independent Lieberman. That leaves 48 Dems either opposed or undeclared.
Below is a joint statemnet released by Montana's US Senators.
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Montana Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester today released the following statement:
From fighting terrorism, fraud, corruption and the scourge of meth to gaining the trust of the American people the next Attorney General has a huge task ahead. Over the past several weeks, we have listened carefully to what both Judge Mukasey has said and what he has refused to say.
We are deeply troubled by Judge Mukasey's refusal to acknowledge what our courts, our military and every single previous administration has recognized: waterboarding is torture and it is illegal. Failure by our government to repudiate torture exposes American men and women fighting around the world to potential danger and injustice.
For too long the Department of Justice has lacked an independent leader who will attack the many problems that face this country, while preserving the liberties guaranteed in our Constitution. We do not believe that Judge Mukasey will be that needed independent voice and we cannot, in good conscience, vote for his confirmation.
Bush is once again tearing into Senate Democrats today for indicating they will not support Judge Michael Mukasey's confirmation for Attorney General unless he declares waterboarding illegal.
Mukasey's said reason for holding out, i.e. to protect interrogators, who are simply following orders, from prosecution under international law, I think makes some sense, but the Democrats are right to demand an answer. Senators McCain and Graham have stated that they'll vote to confirm if Mukasey issues a condemnation immediately after taking office, but honestly, given all we've been through, would you trust anybody these guys send us?
Mukasey, who seemed to be sailing along until several days ago, is yet another victim of the administration's illegal and failed policies. He's damned no matter what he says. Bush's assertion that Mukasey "hasn't been briefed" makes no difference. What is there to be briefed on? Either you do it or you don't.
This all goes back to what we learned in kindergarten, folks. Dubya must have been sick that day. Once you betray trust, it's pretty tough to get it back. If Bush really wants Mukasey to be confirmed and if Mukasey really is independent, then the administration will declare an end to waterboarding as an interrogation technique.
But that's not going to happen because apparently international law applies to everybody but us, even though we're the ones who helped write it.
